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February 1999
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February 1999
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by Pete Moore
Pete Moore writes for Tapping Technology from his window on the world of history, politics and modern culture at the Frederick United Cerebral Palsy Center. Mr. Moore is a graduate of Gallaudet College, and a frequent flyer with all types of assistive technology. Comments for Mr. Moore may be addressed to him via UCP of Frederick, MD, or via Tapping Technology at mdtap@clark.net.
TTYs stand for teletypewriter. It is used by deaf and hard of hearing people. The first thing to do is to put the phone handle on the coupler with the phone cord part of the handle on the left. Be sure the phone handle is securely in the coupler. It is best to have one that is around. Like that old saying " Can't fit square peg in a round hole easily". Turn on the switch that is located on the right side of the TTY. Dial the number you desire. The word signal is on your left side. If the light blinks rapidly, then you know the phone is ringing, but if you get a slow blinking that tells you the line is busy and try again later.
When the person on the other line answers, you'll see "Hello...GA" "GA" go ahead, then you talk for awhile and you give that person a chance by saying "GA". The only 2 common words that are abbreviated HD or HLD which means hold, Q means question. When you get near the end of the conversations you can type SKSK meaning hanging up or GA SK meaning about to hang up.
When a deaf or hard of hearing person needs to call 9-1-1 and don't know if the operator has received the call, watch for the flashing signal light on the TTY. If the light shows that your call was picked up, then wait for their answer. If there is no answer for a long time, then press any key a few times on your TTY. The 9-1-1 operator may have told police to come to your place to help you, but did not tell you about it. A good example would be when I first started going to Gallaudet University in 1978. I used the TTY for the first time. We called it "The Monster" because it stood about three feet high and weighed a lot, but couldn't read it well, because the print was light and very hard to read on paper. It always made mistakes at first since everything was new to me. I always called my friend Holly Roth who encouraged me to attend Gallaudet and gave me a crash course in sign language, because I didn't know a lot of sign language. I practiced using the TTY with her and got better too. Over the years the TTY got better and better. Today's TTY is not much bigger than your average size laptop computer you carry around. The TTY has made a world a different since Franklin's discovery or Edison's invention that literally lit up all the cities in the world. Now the deaf no longer depend on constant letter writing or people being their "ears". 'Til next time: Adios Amigos!
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